Christianised Site

Fieldnotes

From the village of Ardpatrick you cant really miss it.
The town below has an interesting information board with the following info about Ardpatrick.

Even now, hundreds of years after the last monks left the summt, it radiates timelessness and separation from the modern world below. However Christain monks were not the first to appreciate the prominence of this hill, which is part of the Ballyhouras. A series of earthen banks and enclosures near the summot date from the Iron Age (500BC - 500AD). Its later adaption as a monastic settlement suggests that it had a religious significance prior to the arrival of Christianity.
According to local tradition, Saint Patrick founded the monastery in the fifth century. In later times, it collected tributes (payments?) from all the province of munster, which were then paid to Patricks Archdioscese of Armagh. The round tower, north-west of the church ruin, (of which only a stump now remains), is evidence of Ardpatricks ecclesiastical importance.